One Letter
by nessva
Summary: Slash rewrite of Percy's letter to Ron in OotP. Oneshot.


Dear Ron,

I have only just heard (from no less a person than the Minister of Magic himself, who has it from your wonderful new teacher, Professor Umbridge) that you have become a Hogwarts prefect.

I was most pleasantly surprised when I heard this news and must firstly offer my congratulations. I must admit that I have always been afraid about you taking what we might call the 'Fred and George' route of having relations with people of the same gender as you, rather than following in my footsteps and having a logical relationship with someone of the opposite gender. I'm sure you can imagine my feelings on hearing you have stopped flouting authority and have decided to shoulder some real responsibility.

But I want to give you more than congratulations, Ron. I want to give you some advice, which is why I am sending this at night rather than by the usual morning post. Hopefully, you will be able to read this away from prying eyes and avoid awkward questions about your relationships.

From something the Minister let slip when telling me you are now a prefect, I gather that you are still seeing a lot of Harry Potter. I must tell you, Ron, that nothing could put you in danger of losing your badge more than continued fraternization with that boy. Yes, I am sure you are surprised to hear this – no doubt you will say that Potter has always been Dumbledore's favorite student, for more reasons than one – but I feel bound to tell you that Dumbledore may not be in charge at Hogwarts much longer and the people who count have a very different – and probably more accurate – view of he and Potter's relationship with each other. I shall say no more here, but if you look at the Daily Prophet tomorrow you will get a good idea of the way the wind is blowing – and see if you can spot a picture of yours truly amongst the photos of Potter and Dumbledore in the Headmaster's office.

Seriously, Ron, you do not want to be tarred with the same brush as Potter; it could be damaging to your future prospects, and I am talking here about life after school, too. If you must insist on being with people of the same sex as you, perhaps you could look up Draco Malfoy, although I am not sure of his sexual preference. His father has been most helpful to the Minister of recent, and if you were perceived by the Wizarding community as being a part of the Malfoy family, at least the Malfoy family name would open up doors for you once you have graduated from Hogwarts. I beg of you, Ron, if you do not want to be with Draco Malfoy, it would hurt you far less if you were to start up a relationship with your friend Hermione Granger. She at least gets top grades in every subject, and this would help your reputation at the Ministry.

As you must be aware, given the fact that our father escorted him to court, Potter had a disciplinary hearing this summer in front of the whole Wizengamot and he did not come out of it looking too good. He was released on a technicality, if you ask me, and many of the people I've spoken to remain convinced of his guilt. There have also been rumors circulating the Ministry that he slept with various members of the Wizengamot court in order to ensure the members' vote of not guilty.

It may be that you are afraid to sever your intimate relationship with Potter – I know that he can be unbalanced and, for all I know, violent, probably in as well as out of the bedroom – but if you have any worries about this, or have spotted anything else in Potter's behavior that is troubling you, I urge you to speak to Dolores Umbridge, a truly delightful woman – especially when you do her a certain type of favor, who I know will be only too happy to advise you. You are in a unique position to help the Ministry, Ron. You have such a close and intimate relationship with Potter that many Ministry departments would be eager to take you on after graduation if you provide them with first-hand information, thereby showing them your loyalties in this particular situation.

This leads me to my other main bit of advice. As I have hinted above, Dumbledore's regime at Hogwarts may soon be over. Your loyalty, Ron, should be not to him, but to the school and the Ministry. I am very sorry to hear that, so far, Professor Umbridge is encountering very little co-operation from staff as she strives to make those necessary changes within Hogwarts that the Ministry so ardently desires (although she should find this easier from next week – again, see the Daily Prophet tomorrow!). I shall say only this – a student who shows himself willing to help Professor Umbridge now, in every and any way and situation that she may suggest, may be very well-placed for Head Boyship in a couple of years!

I am sorry that I was unable to see more of you over the summer, although I must say that I did not miss seeing you and Harry doing inappropriate things in plain sight at home. I don't know what couches it is safe for me to sit on any more. It pains me to criticize our parents, but I am afraid I can no longer live under their roof while they remain mixed up with the dangerous crowd around Dumbledore. (If you are writing to Mother at any point, you might tell her that a certain Sturgis Podmore, who is a great friend of Dumbeldore's, has recently been sent to Azkaban for attempting to run a secretive and illegal brothel at the Ministry. Perhaps that will open their eyes to the kind of petty criminals with whom they are currently rubbing shoulders.) I count myself very lucky to have escaped the stigma of association with such people – the Minister really could not be more gracious to me, he even offers to let me sleep at his house a lot, for some reason – and I do hope, Ron, that you will not allow family ties to blind you to the misguided nature of our parents' beliefs and actions, either. I sincerely hope that, in time, they will realise how mistaken they were and I shall, of course, be ready to accept a full apology when that day comes.

Please think over what I have said most carefully, particularly the bit about you dating Harry Potter, and congratulations again on becoming prefect.

Your brother,

Percy


End file.
